


The Old Sewerpipe

by falicewins



Series: Falice One Shots by falicewins [9]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Mentioned Southside Serpents Gang, Teen Falice, young falice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-18 21:23:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22600081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falicewins/pseuds/falicewins
Summary: The very first meeting between Alice Smith and FP Jones.
Relationships: Alice Cooper/FP Jones II
Series: Falice One Shots by falicewins [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626064
Kudos: 2





	The Old Sewerpipe

It had been the third time this week. Alice just couldn't take it anymore. All she wished for was for her mother to be sober and step up as her parent. She was barely fifteen years old, with no friends, her father on the run and her mother using drugs like it was some kind of candy. Living on the south side of a town like Riverdale wasn't easy, but having a screwed up parent made it even worse.

There was no place where she really felt at safe. In the trailer she shared with her mother on Sunnyside Trailer Park she could always sleep, but it wasn't more than that. Her mom never showed any interest in her life. She didn't even care about that fact that she had joined the Serpents at such a young age.

At first it had just been a rebellious action to wake her mother up out never ending day dream, but in the end against all odds they really started to feel like a family to her. She never joined them to find that kind of comfort but in the end she knew that there were people who had her back. 

It wasn't that usual to let someone as young as Alice into the Serpents, but her dad used to be one before he had grabbed his bags and left the both of them. In a way having the chance to become a Serpent was the only legacy he had left her.

But now it was just a regular Monday afternoon, and she didn't feel like going to the Whyrm. The Southside Serpents might be a gang, she would still get a lecture about why she wasn't in class and that was the last thing she needed right now. 

There weren't that much people of her age there, and right now her heart ached for someone who understood her in a way the Serpents didn't. She has people looking out of her and that was more than she had ever dreamed of, but sometimes there was still something missing.

There was just one other thing that kept her mind of her home situation: writing. Alice wasn't the type to skip class that often, but she just couldn't drag herself to school today. It was one of those days where she felt lost, like she didn't belong anywhere. Not at school, not at Sunnyside, not at the Whyrm.

Her thoughts had brought her towards the edge of Sweetwater River, where she threw some of the stones into the water out of boredom. The sounds of the water streaming made her calm down a bit. She thought about how the water had already covered thousands of miles from the top of a mountain and would go on doing so until it had reached its lowest point.

It made her feel like she was part of something bigger, something more than just a shitty hell-hole like Riverdale. One day she was getting out of there and she would never look back. She would walk thousands of miles to end up somewhere else, maybe somewhere where the river would lead her.

For now she would be stuck here, at least until she had her high school diploma. Unlike most Serpents she was determined to graduate high school. She had always dreamt of being a journalist, maybe even in New York. Not only people on other continents had the American Dream. She had one just as much.

Alice had walked for over thirty minutes now until her eyes fell on something on the left side of the river, that was covered in moss and leaves all around it. The closer she came, the more she saw what it was. 

It seemed like an old sewer pipe that hadn't been used for over decades. For a second she wondered where the pipe would lead her, maybe there was an underground sewer system that was abandoned because this one clearly wasn't used anymore.

Your eye really had to fell on this place, otherwise you would never notice it was even there. It seemed like a perfect spot to hide, so that was what she was going to do now. At least there was one place in Riverdale where it felt like she wasn't getting bothered by someone.

She sat herself down onto the ground with her denim jeans touching the dirty leaves on it. Not that she really cared, but the puddle she was sitting in was making her legs cold. At least her Serpent jacket was protecting her back from the cold that was coming of the concrete material.

Alice placed her school bag between her legs and opened it to look for her notebook and her little flashlight. This was the perfect place she could write without being interrupted. Maybe she could come here more often, even if it was a little cold. She could bring a blanket with her next time.

\--

Not far from the sewer pipe a fifteen year old boy was wandering across Sweetwater River, trying to forget everything that has been going through his mind lately. The screams of his mother still echoed through his mind before he had seen how his father's fist had hit her face. 

She just went knock-out in a split second. And his dad? He didn't really seem to care that much. He just grabbed the bottle to drown his sorrows instead of realising he had a serious problem.

FP just needed to get out of there as soon as possible, but he couldn't just leave his mother alone. He would never do that do her. If it wasn't for her he would have ran away way sooner and let his father rot in hell.

His daily goal was to be as less home as possible but still be there to protect his mom if he knew his father had a rough day. There had been a few times where he jumped in front of her and caught the slap, but not even then his dad realised something was terribly wrong. From that moment on FP got victim of his dad's abusive hands as well.

His home situation was one of the reasons he never took someone back to his trailer, but the main reason was because most people at school thought he was living at Elm Street, which he obviously wasn't. 

Even his best friend, Fred Andrews, didn't know. He just wasn't sure how long he could hold up this act any longer. He sold his dream as if it was the truth and one day he would be exposed as a fraud, he just didn't know if that day was anytime soon.

One thing he knew for sure, one day he was going to live on the North side. He would take his mom with him to take care of her and maybe even take care of his own family if he was lucky enough to have one at some point in his life.

It was his version of the American Dream. Nothing big, nothing impossible. If he was going to be stuck in Riverdale then at least he was going to live on the North side of town, hoping that there he would meet a girl, marry her and have kids with her. But even if it wasn't impossible, that dream still seemed so far away.

The more he was home, the more there was a chance of him being beaten up. Above that all it was his reality of being stuck in that trailer when he just couldn't wait to get out of there. 

The aching feeling of his eye brow that was starting to bruise was another reason he ran away that afternoon. People at school would just ask questions and he couldn't possibly tell them his dad had loose hands and decided to hit him right in his eye.

He walked towards the place he had been before. It was an old sewer pipe that was almost hidden in the woods, but he had found it a few months ago and since then it became the perfect hiding spot. Nobody would ever find him there. 

He didn't really do something there. Sometimes he would just try to write something inside the walls, or he would just think everything through. Sometimes he thought out scenarios of his perfect life on Elm Street, imagening the family he would have one day. 

FP came closer and saw a little flashlight moving inside. Nobody had ever been there before when he had run away to here and it wasn't really a place where people would hang on a monday afternoon. He walked into the pipe, almost sliding over the pile of leaves at the entrance.

He noticed a girl with long brown curls with a notebook in her hand, her pen rapidly sliding over the paper. It was clear she hadn't noticed him because she didn't give a blink when he stepped into the pipe.

''What are you writing?'' He asked curious. For some reason he didn't mind her sitting there. Even when he thought this was his place to run to, she must have had her reason to come here. Nobody was sitting here for fun.

The girl snapped out of her trance. His question startled her a little, not expecting someone to come inside and catching her skipping class. She passed down her pen and looked at the boy standing in front of there. She wasn't sure had ever seen him before, even when he looked a familiar.

''What are you doing here?'' She snapped back, ignoring his first question. She wanted to be alone, she definitely wasn't waiting to have some small talk with a stranger. 

Her eyes scanned him for a second and kept lingering on his brown eyes. They looked so soft and innocent while the rest of his body language told her the exact opposite.

He grinned and crossed his arms, now sitting down across of her, not planning on leaving anytime soon. Unlike her, he could use some company, even when it was from someone he had barely seen before. He recalled seeing her at school every now and then, but he wasn't sure about that.

''I think I was here first.'' He said calmly, still looking straight to her face while she had opened her notebook again to get back to her writing. She was a little annoyed by the fact that he decided to join her when all she wanted was to be alone.

Alice furrowed her eyebrow arrogantly. ''That's where you are wrong. You just came in while I was already sitting here.'' She recalled what had just happened a minute ago. His smirk was still on his face while she grew more annoyed by the second.

''I didn't mean today. I found this place a few months ago. So technically you're in my hiding spot.'' He explained what he meant. His fingers reached to the gum in his mouth and he threw it away in the sewer pipe before looking back at her. The look in her eyes softened a bit.

''Oh. Sorry, I'll go. I'll find another place.'' She said a little apprehensive. If he was telling the truth then this was his place and not hers to hide. 

Just as much as she had her reasons to run away from school he should have one as well. Normally Alice didn't let anyone send away that easily, but she could imagine that she wouldn't be happy either if someone showed up in a hiding place that she thoughts was hers.

Before she could pack her bag he interrupted her. ''You can stay. It's a good place to hide. Well, exept for the smell in here it's pretty great.'' He joked, and for the first time since their meeting Alice laughed. Maybe this guy wasn't not that bad.

The sound of her laughter was so beautiful to him, especially when it echoed through the pipe. He laughed along with her and gave her a soft smile afterwards, somehow telling her that she was welcome in his hiding spot.

''So, what are you writing?'' He asked once again, gesturing to the notebook in her hands. There weren't much people who ever had showed any interest in what she wrote, so she appreciated the question.

Maybe hanging out with him for a while wasn't that bad. It felt a little uneasy to share it with someone she just shared a few words with, but at least she could tell someone now.

''How I am getting out of this hell-hole.'' She stated letting out a big sigh, and slapped the book close again. FP furrowed his eye brow for a second, hearing those cold words from her. Not that he didn't get what she was talking about, but suddenly the mood was loaded.

''You mean out of this old sewer pipe?'' He joked to make her laugh again. Not because he didn't take her statement seriously, but because he wanted to see her laugh once again, because the first time didn't feel like enough.

Alice threw her pen his away to hit him on his chest and he pretended to be hurt. ''Of course not. I mean this town. I can't wait to leave.'' She explained, looking down at her hands. 

She had never said that out loud to anyone, not even to her mother who caused her urge to leave in the first place. Maybe she never told her because it wasn't just a threat. She was bloody serious.

''And that's why you are hiding here?'' He asked further, but Alice was already done talking about it. 

She wanted to turn around the conversation before she would share something about herself that she would regret later. Not that she had that much secrets, but opening up to a total stranger wasn't on her to-do list for today.

''Enough about me. Why are you hiding here? You just said that this is your usual spot.'' Alice shot back, wanting him to share something more about himself as well. 

He had something mysterious, a quality what made her want to learn more about the boy across of her. She had noticed that he was incredibly handsome, but that wasn't even the most intriguing part of him.

This was a touchy subject for FP, but it felt like he could be straightforward with her, even if he didn't have a conversation with her before. 

''To escape my responsibility-lacking screw up of a dad.'' He scoffed, and twirled the pen she had thrown his way into his hands, not being able to look into her eyes.

''That makes two of us.'' She sighed and leant her head against the hard wall. Now FP felt the courage to look at her, knowing that somehow she was dealing with the same. 

He didn't even have to know the details, he could just hear that there was hurt her in her voice. He could feel it, but most importantly, he could understand it.

He looked at her, but Alice's gaze was fixated on the outside, at the streaming water in the river. ''Well, it's not my dad. It's my mom. But that's pretty much the same.'' She sighed, and now turned her head to look at him. 

Her legs that were crossed before now spread out in front of her to free her knees from the aching pain from sitting in the same position for too long. Her feet were now touching his left thigh.

''I'm sorry to hear that.'' He said softly, not knowing how to comfort her. He wanted to tell her that it all would be fine, but he just wasn't sure that was true. Alice smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

''Yeah, well, sounds both our lives aren't really that great at the moment.'' She said nonchalantly, like it was nothing serious. 

He couldn't do anything but to agree with her. If they had their lives on track they wouldn't be sitting in this old stinking sewer pipe. The fact that they preferred this place over their homes said enough.

''So, are you going to tell me your name?'' She smirked at him, so he smiled back at her, feeling like maybe, just maybe, he was making a new friend today.

''FP.'' He told her. She furrowed her eyebrow, thinking that it were just two initials, instead of a real name. She chuckled slightly and went with her hand through her long hair.

''FP? Okay. And does FP have a last name?'' He hadn't told her on purpose, because looking at the snake logo on her jacket she was probably a Southside Serpent. Every Serpent knew his dad. He just didn't want to be a part of it, in any way.

''Jones.'' He said quietly, avoiding her gaze at all costs. Alice had to dig into her mind where she had heard that name before, but she couldn't quite make out where it came from. 

Until there rang a bell. Forsythe Jones was one of the most famous Serpents ever. She had only seen him once or twice, and all she remembered was that he knew how to drink.

''FP Jones.'' She said quietly. ''You're Forsythe's son.'' She said out loud, like she had finally completed the puzzle in her mind. 

To his surprise he didn't really hear judgement his voice, when most people immediately thought something of him when he revealed to be a Jones man. So he nodded in agreement and looked at the pen in his hands, still twirling it around to ease his nerves.

''But you're not a Serpent. I haven't seen you there before.'' She now paid attention to his jacket and now noticed that blue and yellow colors he was wearing, with a the Bulldogs logo on the side. It didn't occur to her before that he was from Riverdale High just like she was.

He shook his head slowly. Now they came to talk about the Serpent he instantly regretted opening up to her. If there was something he didn't want to do then it was talking about the gang he was trying so hard to avoid. If he was joining them it would be the end of his future.

''But you're a Bulldog. So we are in the same school.'' Alice hadn't noticed the change in his face, but to his luck she had changed the subject without her even being aware of the fact that he was umcomfortable. He finally let go of the breath he had been holding in from the moment the Serpents were mentioned.

''Yeah, I am captain this year.'' He said almost shyly, not wanting to brag, but he was still very proud of that position. He knew it was his only chance to get a scholarship so he was doing his best to keep that place for as long as possible.

''Impressive. I haven't really paid attention to football yet, so I have no clue about who's in the team and who's not.'' She said in all honesty. 

The truth was that she didn't really pay attention to anyone at school. The moment the bell rang she was out of there as quickly as possible. She never even thought of going to see a game.

''Maybe you should come watch us some time.'' He said softly. It wasn't some cheesy pick-up line, he would really love it if she would come to watch them. She would be a friendly face in a crowd full of strangers.

''Maybe I should.'' She grinned. Alice didn't really make friends that easily, so she was glad she was getting along with the stranger that seemed to be called FP Jones. It was a great feeling of not being alone right now, even when she didn't know the details about his home situation.

Alice looked at her watch and saw that she needed to be home soon. Her mom wasn't going to cook so she needed to do that for herself. She stuffed her notebook back in her bag and zipped it again. 

''I need to get going, if I want to eat something tonight I need to be home in fifteen minutes.'' She said rushed, knowing that her mom was expecting her to make dinner for her as well. If there was one thing she didn't need was a lecture about her being five minutes late.

''Wait, what's your name?'' He followed her out of the sewer pipe before she had the chance to run away. 

It was the first time he saw her in daylight and for a second his breath got stuck in his throat. She really was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her bright blue eyes just looked right through him. 

''Alice. Alice Smith.'' She smiled to him. He gave her a small smile back, now thinking that it was probably very creepy that he was staring at her. 

Little did he know that she was thinking exactly the same thing. His brown eyes were ones to drown in and he really looked like the perfect combination of soft but a badass. 

''What if we would go to Pops? My treat.'' He offered politely. The truth was that he just didn't want their meeting to end yet. She was way too interesting for that. There was something about her that made him want to get to know everything about her, every tiny detail.

He saw her hesitation. ''Or would you rather be with your mom right now? You were hiding for a reason, right?'' It was if he could read her mind, because she wasn't really looking forward going home. Her mom had let her down before, so this one night she would make a choice for herself.

''Let's get some burgers.'' Alice smiled, and walked away towards the river, FP following close behind her. This girl was really something. Maybe for the first time he was going to have a friend that understood him in a way his other friend didn't.


End file.
